Royal visit to the West starts today

Prince Charles and his wife Camilla begin their two day visit to the west of Ireland today.

They will commence with a royal reception is at NUIG in celebration of the strong historic ties between the college and the British royalty. NUIG first opened in 1849 under the name Queen’s College Galway along with sister colleges in Cork and Belfast and was modelled on Christchurch College in Oxford.

Following the NUIG visit, the Prince and Camilla will have dinner at Lough Cutra Castle in Gort, hosted by President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina.

Claddagh fishing village is the next port of call with the Duchess expected to visit Fairhill National School while the Prince will have a tour of the Marine Institute near Oranmore and then they will travel on to the Burren in county Clare.

On Wednesday the Royal couple will travel to Mullaghmore in County Sligo where the Prince’s great uncle Lord Louis Mountbatten was killed by the IRA in 1979, along with three other people when a bomb exploded on his fishing boat.

A civic reception will also take place in the Niland / Model Gallery in the town for the royal visitors.

A stop off in Drumcliffe to visit the grave of WB Yeats and a visit to the Sligo Races will also take place on Wednesday.